Finnishness describes the culture and identity of Finns. It can mean a lot of things but there are a few that stand out to me. Here are a few points on these matters and what I think of them.

Honesty is a practice that I feel Finnish people master. Either way looking at it from a positive or a negative perspective. It can be seen in different aspects of a Finn’s everyday life and attitude. For example, if they have an appointment, they are on time. You can depend 100 % on what they say is honest. Also, they get straight to the point when talking and that’s why they don’t have the skill of small talk.

Practicing “every man’s right” by hiking in Lapland

On the other hand, the prospect of freedom is seen in few examples. When considering rights and laws for instance Finnish have the “every man’s right” which means we are allowed to roam freely in the forests. Then looking at it from a social perspective, in Finland you are free to be whatever you desire. No need to fit in a hierarchy system. Also, the social security helps with everyone being able to achieve their freedom by themselves and not being held down by their past or history.

Lastly the classic word connected to Finnishness, Sisu. It translates to e.g. resilience, bravery, and grit. It is something we have seen throughout history, say in wars and athletics, but also just in everyday life. You can also say it’s how Finns fight through the dark and cold winters including the polar nights.

Welcome!

This blog is your window to Finnishness. Here you will find blog posts written by students of Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) describing their personal experiences and notions of being a Finn or living in Finland. This blog is part of the course "Intercultural Experiences and Competences" and was started in spring 2016.

You can use the tag cloud to find posts with specific contents, and to find posts from a specific month, use the navigation at the bottom of the page titled “Blog Post Archive”. Feel free to leave comments as well! Enjoy!